The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) instituted the World Tourism Day, which falls on September 27, 2017.

The exhibition, under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and in collaboration with the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) and the Ghana Tourism Federation (GTF), will also feature a football gala to whip up the interest of members of the association and the public.

According to the President of CRAG, Mr Seth Yeboah Ocran, the association intended to use the celebration of the World Tourism Day to drive its programme, dubbed: “Drive tourism”, carved out of the theme for this year’s celebration: “Sustainable tourism: A tool for development.”

He said fun games scheduled for the El Wak Stadium on September 23, 2017 would host some strategic partners of CRAG in the tourism sector, such as insurance, auto and oil companies, as well as banks.

Awareness creation

Mr Ocran said the celebration would raise awareness of the role of tourism within various sectors of the economy and demonstrate how it affected social, cultural, political and economic values in communities.

This year’s theme, he explained, fitted into CRAG's “Driving tourism” programme which was expected to promote road safety and improved service delivery which would have an immediate impact on the development of tourism in the country.

Networking

He said apart from the games, the event would afford participants the opportunity to network and discuss ways to reduce challenges associated with domestic tourism to boost the country’s image as “the best tourist destination in Africa”.

The games are expected to attract audiences of between 1,500 and 2,000.

Mr Ocran said the association would also take advantage of the presence of children at the event to educate them on the importance of tourism and help them protect the heritage they had in their respective communities.

“Apart from that, there will be an exhibition of tourism products and services, as some car rental companies will display their vehicles and other services for the public to be aware of what we offer. Clothing, local food, as well as the rich cultural heritage of Ghana, will also be on display,” he said.

Collaboration

According to him, beyond the fun games, CRAG would collaborate with relevant institutions to step up its education on decongesting Accra, as well as lend support to the President’s initiative of making Accra the cleanest city in Africa.

For a start, he proposed the relocation of some of the main lorry stations, especially those outside the city of Accra, which he said would help reduce traffic and improve on sanitation challenges in the city.

Special guests

According to Mr Ocran, the Second Lady, Mrs Samira Bawumia, and the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Madam Catherine Afeku, would be special guests at the event.